


Total Eclipse

by Cloudyerd11



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Powers, Anger, Capture, Gen, Hiding in Plain Sight, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Loss of Control, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Mind Manipulation, Not What It Looks Like, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Past Mind Control, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Tony Stark, Psychological Torture, Rescue, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Torture, Unknown Past, alternative motives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-31 15:49:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 16,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21148244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudyerd11/pseuds/Cloudyerd11
Summary: There is something stirring in the dark. Something that can’t be known until it's too late. A billionaire couldn’t see it watching him from the dark corner of his workshop. The soldier couldn’t see it following him on his run. The Spiderling couldn’t see it creeping up behind him as he stood in an alleyway. His spider-sense couldn’t sense it as the haunting figure reached it's arms out towards him...When Peter vanishes into thin air, Tony makes it his mission to find the villain behind this disappearance and bring him back. But a deep secret lies below the surface, one that could change everyone's understanding of everything, including one involving Iron Man and one Winter Soldier.





	1. Peter

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea I got that I wanted to share with you all. Please leave comments, let me know what you all think, and if I should continue this story or not. Thank you!

The wind rushed past him as he flew through the air, his white webs grey in the night. His red and blue figure went up and down, flying around corners at what Tony would call frightening speeds. But, he didn’t care.

It's as close as he could come to flying.

Peter moved in continuous motion, watching the ground below for trouble, his enhanced senses allowed him to see everything like a slow-motion picture.

_ It seems like everything’s good tonight _ , he thought to himself as he rounded the corner on 11th, a panicked shout ringing through the air. He sighed.  _ Spoke too soon _ .

He dropped his web, landing on the cool cement behind a young woman and a lopsided, sketchy looking mugger. After attempted reasoning, a hand to the face, and a foot chase, Peter cornered the mugger in a dark alleyway.

“Alright, man. You surprised me last time, not gonna lie. I am paying close attention to you and only you. So would you like to do this the easy way by giving back what you stole from that nice woman or would you prefer we fight this out and you remain stuck to the wall until the cops come?”

Something beneath the man’s coat began to move, Peter instantly reacted. But before he could successfully reach the man’s hand before he pulled out what he assumed was a gun, the coat opened and two young- maybe elementary school- students popped out. The coat fell to the ground, the large man disappearing.

Peter was stunned. He dealt with bank robbers and muggers almost every single day and thought he had seen everything. This was completely new. He had no idea what he wanted to do.

He kneeled, getting on the same level as the kids. He could see that they were thin with large smudges of dirt on their faces. They couldn’t have been older than ten, if even that.

“Hey,” said Peter, softening his voice to kid-mode. “what are you guys doing?”

“Sorry, Mr. Spiderman. We weren’t trying to hurt anybody,” the kid on the left said quietly, who might have been a bit older than her brother.

“We were just trying to get some money for our mom.”

“Why didn’t you just ask for it?”

“It was my idea,” pointed out the sister. “We have been out here all day and I thought we could get away with it. I’m sorry.”

“That’s alright.” Peter’s heart was all over the place. He couldn’t just turn in those kids, but could he just let them go? “How about this…”

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet (Spiderman having pockets, I know). He grabbed two twenty-dollar bills and held them out. The kid’s eyes grew wide.

“I will give you these on two conditions. One, you go apologize to that nice lady for scaring her and give her back anything you might have taken from her. Second, promise me you won’t try to steal from anyone anymore. Deal?”

“Deal,” they said in unison. They took the money from him, smiles as big as their faces. They instantly ran around him, sprinting away from him.

“Hey kid,” he said, remembering something. The two turned around, their smiles faltering slightly. He looked at the sister, who he was assuming was the one on top. “You’ve got one heck of a swing.”

She smiled, grabbing her brother’s hand, and disappeared around the corner.

Peter stood there, smiling at the empty alley opening in front of him. He took off his mask, getting some air during this brief time of being alone. His heartfelt happiness, the warm tingling he gets when he changes someone’s life. He was overwhelmed with self-satisfaction, mistaking his sudden flash of spider-sense for pure joy.

In the blink of an eye, everything around him blurred, his back and head slamming against the wall behind him. He could see his mask on the ground behind a pair of dark legs devoid of color. He tried to react and web the person to the floor, but there was nothing. He looked down, wide-eyed, seeing metal bands wrapped around his wrists keeping him from using any forms of his webs.

A large, leather hand bent down, picking him up, spinning around, and pinning him against the wall. One of the hands grips his collar, the other covers his mouth. He tried to fight back, making no progress in the situation. His hands were cemented together by the bands and his feet couldn’t touch the ground. He tried to fight with his body, but it was useless against the large hands. All he could do was stare into the attacker’s terrifying eyes.

Their eyes were black. No… white. Both black and white. But not black circles on white backgrounds. Pitch black eyes with white irises. They were the most haunting and terrifying eyes he had ever seen. Yet he couldn’t look away. He was drawn to the eyes, his body shaking with pure fear.

He watched, falling into the eyes until they too… Gave way to the complete darkness.


	2. Tony

“No Steve. I’m telling you. It goes like this.”

Tony folded the towel, making it into a rectangle. He went slowly, holding it out for Steve to see. Steve simply rolled his eyes and continued to fold his towel into a square.

“That’s the thing, Tony, I don’t think it does.”

“Wow,” interrupts Natasha watching the confrontation from her spot on the couch. “Two grown men arguing over how to fold towels. Totally normal behavior.”

“It would be normal if Steve knew how to fold the towels right.”

“ANYWAY…” continued Natasha, trying to change the subject. “How’s your new recruit? Spider-boy of whatever.”

“If you mean Peter, he prefers Spiderman. And he’s good, out nightly patrolling like he normally does.”

“Don’t you want to know what he’s doing? Or at least where he is?”

“Nat, he’s a young kid with advanced powers that can stop a garbage truck. I trust his judgment more than mine.”

Tony doesn’t mention the fact that he and Peter have a deal. A few months ago he did constantly monitor what Peter was doing, even going so far to put a camera and tracker in his suit. But after the events with the Vulture and a long talk about privacy, Tony and Peter came to an agreement. Peter was allowed to patrol every night without Tony breathing down his neck and watching his every move, and Tony was allowed to install an auto and manual distress detector in replacement for the tracker.

Tony didn’t tell Peter that he had kept the camera in there. 

He was about to complain about Steve’s folding skills again when the air is pierced by a startling sound. The alarm makes everyone jump, including Tony. Fear runs down his spine, recognizing the only reason the panic alarm would be going off. He taps the watch on his arm while trying to cover his ears with his shoulders. The alarm quiets but continues, or maybe it was just the horrific echo in his ears.

“Tony, what’s going on?” Asks Steve, uncovering his ears.

“Talk to me FRIDAY.”

“Hero-in-distress, sir,” answered the AI. “It’s from Peter.”

“Shit.”

“What appears to be wrong?” Asks Steve while everyone springs into prep mode.

“No idea boss. The suit tipped it off, not Peter.”

_ Shit, _ said Tony in his mind. He runs from the room, practically jumping the entire staircase to his workshop.

“Give me a location, FRI.” Tony grabs his receivers from the worktable, a door opening across the room.

“Alleyway on 11th and Cole.”

“Get there Tony. We’ll be a few minutes behind you.”

The cold metal wraps around Tony. Normally he would enjoy the sensation of putting on the armor, but today he’s in a completely different world. He’s so focused on getting to Peter that he doesn’t even realize that he’s flying until he rounds the corner of the Empire State building, finding himself on 11th street.

He lands on the ground in a ready position, but there is no one in the alleyway. No attacker, no Peter, no one. There was only empty space and what looked like a small, dark red rag on the ground. Tony bends down and picks it up, more fear and shock running through him as he turns it towards him.

Peter’s mask.

The pit in Tony’s stomach dropped even further. He looked around wildly for something, any form of clue or tip-off that Peter was alright and that he was close by. But once more, there was nothing.

Peter, his kid, the one he called his son, vanished into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. I know this chapter was short. I was debating putting it in but I felt it necessary to include Tony's perspective. Please let me know what you think and if you have any ideas on what I should do for future chapters. Thanks!


	3. Zemo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To add a little context to my plot idea: this takes place after Homecoming but excludes any events from Civil War, so Zemo is simply another villain that the Avengers have on their radar, but is completely different from the Zemo in Civil War. Hope that makes sense. Enjoy! :)

Zemo starred in front of him, the black screen completely empty. He bit his knuckle anxiously, letting the little tick of the desk clock fill in his thoughts. Tick… Tick… Tick… The neverending constant: time.

Thoughts of all variation fill his mind, surrounding him like the cold arctic air around him. Thoughts of the mission, the absence of news, the anticipation of results. He thought of how far he had come to get to this moment, this moment in time when everything would either go completely right or completely wrong.

He had practically built this program from the ground up, especially since the previous program failed so miserably. He changed everything, from the training to the… gathering… of resources. He made it unique, different, successful. No more hard decisions. No more self opinions. No more freedom to do as one does.

He achieved absolute control.

Now he sat, watching an empty computer screen and listening to the ticking of time, waiting anxiously for results.

“You know,” said a voice almost in front of him. “No matter how long you stare at that screen, it won’t make time go any faster.”

Zemo sighed, taking the black coffee cup from the man’s outstretched hand.

“I just want this to work. I can feel it in my bones, I want this so badly.”

“And it will work.” The man sat forward in his own chair, looking at Zemo. “You have come so far. You have worked so hard on this, made this project your own child. Total Eclipse will work. This… will… work.”

Zemo was about to answer when the doors to the control center burst open. Two guards pushed back the large cement doors, more guards following behind them. They stretched out around the room, making way for the treasure coming behind them.

A tall figure dawned in all black walked through the door, the only hint of color coming from the white irises of its eyes. It walked tall and firm, strongly holding the red and blue superhero in its arms and carrying him over to a metal table in the middle of the room.

Zemo stared in awe. In front of him was Spiderman, the Spiderman. He didn’t even have to test to know it was him. The way the suit wrapped around his muscular chest and how small bits of webs were starting to come from the space underneath the metal restraint cuffs. This was  _ the Spiderman _ .

The plan was going to be a success.

“Dismissed,” he said, not looking up from the table. All the guards around the room, including the man, left, leaving Zemo alone with the dark figure.

The dark figure stared at him blankly, waiting for directions. It's ominous terrifying eyes that sometimes even sent shivers down his own spine, watching but unresponsive.

“Take him to Holding E,” commanded Zemo. “Permission to release.”

Small electric blue currents ran along the side of the figure’s head, ending at it's eyes. The figure’s shoulders went back slightly, standing up a little straighter before carefully lifting the unconscious superhero.

Zemo watched the villain and superhero leave the room, the large stone doors closing behind them.

“Well done, Eclipse.”


	4. Peter

Peter’s muscles ached, his head filled with pure pain as well. It was hard to breathe, his lungs feeling like they were in cement. He was shaking violently, but not from the pain that spiraling through him.

He was shaking from the cold.

Pushing past the ice barrier around his senses, he takes in his surroundings the best he could. The air around him freezes him to the bone, making the pain worse. He couldn’t feel anything except the expanding of his aching chest and the metal around his elevated wrists.

Peter’s eyes shot open, adjusting to the faded light around him. He rested on his knees on a cold metal floor, his arms fastened to the wall behind him. He tried to move his ankles, but he found that they were cuffed together and restrained him to both the wall and the floor. He pulled against the metal cuffs, but his strength was completely gone, falling back to his slightly leaned forward position in defeat.

He looked at the space in front of him. He was in a large cylindrical room, the walls stretching up to the roof high above them. There were vents in the ceiling, blasting cold air into the room. Very little light shown down from the vents, illuminating his half of the room. A dark, black shadow covered the rest of the room, nothing but total darkness.

Darkness and a pair of black and white eyes.

Shivers ran through Peter, but he didn’t feel it nor respond to it. He simply stared at the figure, different thoughts running through his mind. He watched as the figure blinked and stepped forward, slowly coming into the light.

The figure was lengthy tall, slim, and muscular, its appearance towering over him. It was dressed in nightly black, blending in with everything perfectly. There was so much black that Peter thought even if there was skin showing, it was black as well. The only hint of color came from its eyes, white and shining, even in complete darkness.

As the figure took another step towards him, Peter flinched away. It stopped, watching him, something about its eyes giving off a slight sad emotion.

“Don’t… Please, don’t come near me.” It was hard to breathe, either from the cold or from fear itself. He closed his eyes, attempting to keep his tears from showing. He was in so much pain, more than he had ever felt in his life. So much pain that even his spider-sense wasn’t responding.

“I don’t know who you are, or what your intentions are… and I know this may not do anything, but please… just leave me alone. I’m sorry for whatever I did to hurt you, but please don’t hurt me.” Tony and the other Avengers flashed through his mind, his heart aching at the thought of them. “Just leave me and my family alone.”

He kept his eyes closed, waiting for a response, either a shout or a punch or just pain in general. He was sort of preparing for the end as well, but there was nothing.

Peter opened his eyes, the figure still standing in the same place. It looked down at him.

Peter watched it slowly approach him, not sure what to do. It stopped a foot in front of him and reached out it's hand, slowly and carefully, until it touched the side of his freezing cheek. He looked at it with curiosity.

_ Why is it… SHE… doing this? She was the one who attacked me and kidnapped me, now she’s suddenly being nice to me? _

“Why are doing this?”

The figure simply shook its head, looking down at the ground.

“You can’t speak?”

The figure shook its head.

“Do you have a name?”

It held up its hands, one as a fist and the other as a circle. She kept her gaze on him as she moved her hands together, the fist in front of the circle.

_ Fist and circle? _ He thought. _ One in front of the other? Wha... _

Then he looked into her eyes, shining brightly with hope for an understanding. Her eyes were black on white on black, like the moon in front of the sun. Understanding ran through his mind.

“Eclipse?”

She nodded.

“Peter.”

Her eyes smiled, but Peter already had a feeling she knew that.

“So… Eclipse… why am I here?”

Eclipse shook her head. She made motions with her hands, not quite sign language, but close to it.

_ Out there… told me to bring you here. _

“So one told you to bring me here?

She nodded.

“Why.”

She held up her hands.  _ Don’t know. Only told to bring you here. _

“Are you like… as spy or an agent or something? Do you work for these people?”

She held up one finger and shook her head, then held up two and nodded.

“So if you work for them… but you’re not an agent… then what are you?”

Eclipse took a while to answer, trying to come up with an explanation, or at least how to put it into hand words. She reached up and touched Peter’s skin right next to the metal cuffs on his wrists. Then she pointed at herself, brought her wrists together, and pointed at the ground.

Peter didn’t understand. She just made the intention that she was a prisoner here, but that didn’t make any sense. She wasn’t chained to a wall or in restraints. As far as he knew she was allowed to go wherever she wanted. How could she compare herself to him?

“You’re a prisoner here?”

She nodded her head.

“Why don’t you just leave? You’re allowed outside, why don’t you just leave.” The figure sighed, closing it's eyes. It turned it's head sideways, Peter able to see the small blue light coming from her neck. He sort of expected to see a little orb or something on her skin, but this was completely different. The blue light was coming from beneath her skin, pulsing and shining with magnificent energy.

But Peter knew it wasn’t magnificent. It wasn’t something that could be removed, it was permanent until she herself was gone. She was as much as a prisoner as him, maybe even worse.

Mind control. 

“I’m so sorry,” he said in a whisper. 

She put her hand on the side of his face. He looked at her, her eyes filled with ease.

_ I’m alright _ , they were saying.

Peter was about to ask another question when blue energy flickered across the sides of her head, ending at her eyes. In a second she was standing straight up, standing still and stiff, looking straight in front of her.

A slight bit of fear came back to Peter. In the blink of an eye, the kind-hearted misunderstood kidnapper he had just been talking to was gone, replaced by an evil mind-controlled heartless creature.

A door opened on the other side, illuminating a slight bit of light to the darkness. A man with thin black and grey hair walked across the room, standing next to Eclipse. He smiled at the restrained hero.

“Good morning, Spiderman.” He said in an evil tone. “Welcome to your new exciting adventure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading you guys. The support already has been amazing. Please feel free to write comments and give some feedback. And if you have any ideas for future chapters, that would be great as well!


	5. Tony

Tony angrily paced around his workshop, kicking things over and making a mess of the place. He had taken off every bit of his suit except for the iron glove, which he used to occasionally shoot things around the room when kicking things wasn’t enough.

After the shock of finding the alleyway completely empty, Tony had practically flown around the entire city searching for his kid, unable to find anything. The team practically had to tie him down and bring him out of the air in order to get him to stop.

Now instead of letting his anger and anxiety out by flying recklessly around the city, he was stuck taking his emotions out on inanimate objects in the one place he felt closest to the kid he had lost.

“You need to stop, Tony,” said Steve, leaning against the wall and out of range.

“Oh, I need to stop Steve, huh? This is the only thing that I can do.”

“Tony, we’ll find him.”

“How do you know?” He stopped and looked at the man who was being  _ way _ to calm. “How do you know we’ll find him? There’s nothing we can use! No prints, no evidence, no bystanders, nothing! He just fucking vanished into thin air.”

Tony sat angrily down in his chair, watching the little progress bar barely move an inch. Steve walked over and leaned against the desk, facing the angry genius.

“What if we can’t find him, Steve?” Tony asked in complete defeat. He was trying to keep the tears from coming to his eyes. “What if he’s gone, just like that. Gone and never going to come back.”

“You can’t think like that Tony.” Steve sighed. “Listen, I promise you I’m not trying to make this about me or change the subject, but I totally understand what you’re going through. When I came out of the ice, everything was different. I had to adjust and learn everything all over again, but part of me was still searching for the person I used to be. I felt I didn’t have a place, but now I do. You and the team helped me through that, just like I’m going to help you.”

Tony was about to answer when the computer screen changed and opened a video profile. It had taken a stupid amount of time to access the video feed on Peter’s suit, he must have blocked it somehow. Tony practically sprang out of his seat in desperation.

“Play it, Friday.”

The video played, Tony watching anxiously as Steve watched as well, still sitting in his same spot on the table. They watched as a blur of the city flew past, Peter on another one of his spider-races. They watched Peter stop to help an old lady, try to reason with a mugger, get punched in the face (which Tony growled at), and chase the attacker into a cornered alleyway. They watched as two kids came out of the coat (which gained surprised looks from both Avengers), followed by a kind-hearted conversation that ended with Peter giving the kids some money and watching them run around the corner. Peter took off his mask, the video still showing the open street.

“It just seems like a perfectly normal situation,” said Tony. “I don’t under…”

The video changed as the mask seemed to jerk backward before falling to a heap, this time facing the other direction. Tony and Steve could see a bewildered Peter on the ground, two muscular legs in complete black standing between him and the camera. He tried to web the attacker, but two metal bands completely covered his wrists, keeping him from using any of his defense systems.

“What the hell?” Tony whispered.

They couldn’t see the attacker, even as they bent down to pick up the defenseless hero. Peter spun in the air as the figure turned, pinning him to the wall. All Tony and Steve could see were the attacker’s black leather legs and Peter’s red ones, which were moving in attempts to fight back.

“Friday, turn on audio settings.”

The volume turned on, but there were no words being spoken, only the scrapes from Peter’s shoes against the wall and the grunts coming from off the screen. It was harmless in appearance, but a horrifying understanding ran through Tony’s mind.

The attacker was trying to strangle Peter.

Tony watched in horror as Peter’s feet stopped moving, the figure taking a step back as Peter fell forward. The figure caught Peter, carrying him like a sleepy child, cradling the unconscious hero. In the blink of an eye, the figure, and Peter, disappeared completely. A few seconds later, the mask moved, Tony seeing his own panicked face fill the screen. The video went dark, leaving the room completely silent and eerily still.

Steve was the first to respond, his movement shattering the stillness of the air around them. He stood up, beginning to walk out of the room. He paused next to Tony, who still stared at the screen. With a gentle touch of his hand, Steve squeezed Tony’s shoulder, either an apology or in sympathy.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

And then he was gone, leaving the genius in his shocked space in his empty workspace, alone. Minutes turned to hours as time passed. Tony sat there, never moving and still staring at the same place, pure exhaustion slowly starting to take him over. The only movement coming from a small tear that ran down his face.

_ Peter… _ he thought, his eyes closing in longing for sleep.

_ Kid… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading the next chapter. Sorry it took so long compared to the last chapter. I can't believe how huge this has become, especially compared to my other readers. Please continue to let me know what you all think and if you enjoyed the story!


	6. Peter

“It's an honor to have you here, Spider Man,” the evil man said, watching the restrained hero with narrow, evil eyes.

“So you’re the one who brought me here,” answered Peter shakily. He could feel the cold beginning to get to him. “You just used her as your minion, forcing her to do the dirty work for you.”

“Oh? And did she tell you that?” He turned to look at the mind-controlled Eclipse. Peter could see a faint wince run just under her eye before returning back to normal.

“I figured it out for myself, thank you,” Peter said. He wasn’t sure if Eclipse was allowed to talk to him, but he certainly didn’t want her to be punished for doing so. “She didn’t say anything.”

“Hmm. Alright.”

“On the topic of… her… bringing me here, why? Why am I here?”

“Oh it's quite simple.” He took a step closer, Peter still watching him carefully. “You are the amazing Spider Man, one of the greatest heroes in New York, next to the Avengers of course.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question.”

“What does this go to show? This dark being, under control of the great Baron Zemo, is able to take out the amazing Spider Man. Who knows what she could do after that.”

“So you only took me to bloat? To show to the world that you simply captured Spider Man? That’s not going to do anything.”

“Ahh, but it will.” The man took a step closer. “First, it was Hydra. Then the red room. Finally, the KGB. But after the fall of the infamous  _ Winter Soldier _ , people began to question our effectiveness in world terror. Now, it's my turn. And I have everything planned to the tiniest of details. Everything has been calculated thoroughly and no variable has been missed.

“Out of the ashes of the KGB, I-  _ Zemo _ \- rose with a single solution. From the smoke of failure left behind by the _ Winter Soldier _ , a single savior was born:  _ Eclipse _ .”

The air suddenly rushed out of Peter, a black gloved hand grasping his neck. Peter felt himself lifted off the ground, his shoulders popping due to still being attached to the wall. He tried to twist out of Eclipse’s grasp, but he couldn’t do anything while being restrained. He closed his eyes, trying to avoid her eyes after what happened last time.

“Isn’t she magnificent?” Continued Zemo, watching the whole thing from his same spot. “The perfect weapon, equipped with inhuman reflexes, superhuman strength, and intelligence beyond anyone alive today. The best part? Her hypnotic eyes. You’ve seen them haven’t you?”

Peter felt the hand one his neck tighten, forcing him to open his eyes and getting caught in hers. The world around him became fuzzy, instantly becoming light headed. Even his muscles started spasming involuntarily, causing him to shake. There was nothing he could do but look straight into the white and black eyes.

“Please…” begged Peter, barely able to speak. “Please don’t hurt me.”

“What makes you say I want to hurt you?”

“Please… even if you don’t want to hurt me… don’t hurt my family. Please.”

Zemo took a step closer. “Well Peter, there’s seven and a half billion people on earth. I think you might need to be more specific.

Peter felt his mouth start to move before his mind could process what he was saying. “Aunt May. Ned. MJ. Mr. St…”

He cut himself off, fear instantly running through him. The realization hit him as fast as a freight train. He wasn’t here because Zemo wanted him, he wanted Mr. Stark. Probably the rest of the Avengers, but most importantly, he wanted Mr. Stark.

“What was that? Come again? I didn’t hear you clearly.”

But Peter didn’t answer. He clamped his mouth shot, no matter how hard it was under Eclipse’s trance.

“Come on Peter. Don’t make me strangle it out of you.”

The hand on his neck tightened immensely, all air being forced out. His condition worsened, the force coming from Eclipse somehow getting worse. His Spider Sense was completely disabled too, not so much as a tingle. He felt himself losing time and becoming disoriented.

“Come on Peter. Be a good boy now.”

“Go… to hell,” he choked out.

A searing headache ran through his head, feeling like it was splitting his mind in half. The pain was so bad, a hundred times worse than it should be. He was dying, his vision was becoming completely dark. He closed his eyes, his entire body freezing and convulsing.

“Please…” he whispered. “Don’t hurt Mr. Stark.”

The pain instantly stopped as if nothing had happened. The hand let go of Peter, him slipping back to the floor. Everything ached, either from seizing or lack of oxygen.

Eclipse, who had staggered back slightly, was looking at Peter with a terrified expression, watching the boy struggle in complete pain.

“Good boy Peter! Now that wasn’t too hard was it?” Zemo laughed at Peter’s silence, the boy still trying to get air back into his sore lungs. “Come. Let’s leave him in his state for a while.”

Zemo turned leaving the room. Eclipse watched him, sorrow filling her eyes. She turned as well, following Zemo out of the stone room through the sealed door.

The door closed, leaving Peter in the freezing cold; alone and completely broken. Tears ran down his cheeks as darkness took over, this time from pure exhaustion. As he slowly became unconscious, Peter spoke out into the empty darkness.

“I’m sorry Mr. Stark,” he whispered. “I’m sorry for everything.”

_ “I’m sorry I betrayed you _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys! Sorry it took so long, but I finally finished these next to chapters (even though I should've finished my homework at this point). Please let me know what you all think and thanks for reading!


	7. Zemo

The villain walked into the large experimentation chamber. The door closed behind him, silent footsteps following him to the center of the room. After starting the coffee maker and filling the air with the dark scent of coffee beans, he turned around, looking into the white and black eyes of his little villain in training.

Without making any noise, Eclipse dropped to her knees, her ankles sitting directly under her. She rested her hands on her knees, holding completely still, all while staring directly at the floor.

“Rise,” commanded Zemo. She instantly did, moving her gaze to be staring at him, waiting for her next assignment.

“Hey,” Zemo said, grabbing his cup from the coffee maker. He leaned back on the table, looking at her with a slight smile on his face. “Relax a little. You deserve it.”

Eclipse remained in the same position, the only movement coming from the downward motion of her relaxing shoulders. Zemo tipped his head, looking at her.

“Do you know how proud I am? How proud I am of you?”

She blinked, her forehead briefly creasing before going back to normal.

“You are the most amazing being I have ever met.” He sipped his coffee. “You single-handedly captured Spider Man without any interference, brought him here, and got him to tell us valuable information. That was all you. It's more than I could ever ask for.”

Eclipse didn’t say anything, just continued to stand there and look directly into his eyes. Most people who look into her eyes almost instantly become light headed and transfixed, but he was immune to her capabilities.

“You have done everything I have asked, and for that… I want to give you something. Something meaningful, a reward for your accomplishments.” He turned, looking straight at him with slight disbelief. 

Eclipse looked at him with wide eyes.

“You have until morning,” he said, staring straight into her eyes. “You can go.”

The figure looked at him for awhile before bowing her head and turning away. She hesitated for a moment at the door, and Zemo wondered if she was actually going to leave. To his slight surprise, she opened the door, vanishing silently.

Zemo sat down in the chair by the desk, moving into the same position as earlier. He watched the clock as it turned to ten-thirty. There was a lot that could change in the nine hours, but he didn’t care.

A true test of loyalty was on the line.

*****

In the darkness of night a figure moved, running through dense forests and jumping over bushes and thickets. With a burst of speed, she jumped off a high stone, landing on the top of a moving truck and holding on tight. She watched the bright skyline of Manhattan break over the top of the hill beneath them, slightly taking her breath away. 

It had been almost 24 hours since she had taken the spider-hero, 24 hours since she had been in her favorite place on earth. And that's saying something. She had been all over the world, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Sokovia, Paris, even South Africa. But something about New York called to her, bringing her back for an unknown reason.

In the blink of an eye she was running through the suburbs towards downtown, jumping over cars and running on top of roofs, all without making any noise. She didn’t scare the alley cats, she didn’t wake the sleeping dogs, she didn’t catch the attention of late-night people walking by.

She could have gone to the Brooklyn bridge. She could have gone to Central Park. She could have been to Downtown, Coney Island, Broadway, everywhere, but she didn’t. Instead she ran along the rooftops to a tall blue and silver skyscraper. It rose high above all the rest, the giant A visible for miles. She was going to Avengers tower.

There was a certain billionaire who needed a visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys. Sorry this is so short. There's not a whole lot that I have to write when its focused on Zemo. I was thinking of having it only focused on Stark and Peter from this point on, but let me know if you guys want me to keep it. Cool beans and thanks for reading!


	8. Tony

“Run it again Friday,” commanded Tony, sipping his cold coffee. He watched as the little icon on the screen spun in a circle, going over every little data stream in the recording of Peter’s kidnapping.

After he had woken up from what he called “self-induced sleep” after watching the video of Peter, he instantly got to work, investigating, researching, and rewatching every single bit of video he could, all in attempts to find any sign of evidence to where Peter was taken.

Given, he didn’t know if Peter was even still alive, but he didn’t care. Deep down, underneath the sleep deprivation and maybe eighteen cups of coffee, he knew that Peter was still alive. He knew Peter was out there somewhere, struggling, suffering, and defeated.

_ Alone _ . 

And Tony wasn’t going to let that happen any longer than necessary.

“No results confirmed,” rang Friday’s voice around the lab.

Tony cursed under his breath, running his fingers through his hair. He looked down at his endless lists of scribbled out ideas that held every possible solution a genius could come up with. He scrolled through every idea, even the ones he had tried twice, looking for something that would give him a different approach or idea.

“I suggest you take yourself upstairs for some downtime sir. You’ve been down here for almost…”

“I’m alright Friday. And don’t tell me how long I’ve been down here. I don’t want to know until I find him.”

He searched and searched, his eyes starting to ache from the screens.  _ Nothing from other camera sources. No passerbys. Nothing regarding interdimensional transporting. Nothing from pixel sourc… _

Tony’s mind hovered over the idea.  _ Pixelated Sourcing. _ Scanning through the pixels of the video for hidden messages. It was an outlandish idea, one that Tony was sure he had pulled out of the bottom of his thirteenth cup of coffee. And sure enough, it came up with no result, but it was still tugging at his mind.

“Hey, Fry…” Tony mumbled. “Do you have the ability to change this to detect high frequencies of radiation?”

“Of course sir.”

“Change video feed to all radiation starting at infrared.”

Tony sat back, watching through the same video multiple times. He specifically watched the part with the figure holding Peter against the wall, trying to see if there was a specific radiation wavelength that the kidnapper emitted. When he reached the final loop, he watched the same scene again, only this time, the background was dark blue. Peter, who Tony had Friday program to remain in visual color, was being held up by a bright purple figure. Tony stared in awe at the video, looking down to see the filter tag.

“ _ Ultra-violet _ ? No one would have the idea to check that in a million years. Start the video over, Fry. Keep Peter and the two kids in visual, everything else in Ultra-Violet.”

The video started over, Tony watching for everything that could emit ultra-violet. He watched as Peter confronted the two kids, nothing appearing in the background. But as the two kids ran past him and as Peter turned around, Tony instantly paused the video.

In the background, where there was once a pitch-black shadow against a black wall, was the outline of a purple person.

“Jesus Christ. Friday, turn back to visual!”

The video returned to its normal state, the once light purple figure not disappearing once again. But this time, something caught his eye. He double-tapped the video, zooming in on where the figure once stood. What he first thought were reflexive pixels in the video turned into two circles that look mysteriously like camera lenses. Upon closer examination, Tony realized that they weren’t cameras, but haunting, horrifying irises on black eyes, like something from one of the horror movies he and Peter were starting to watch. He looked closer, staring straight into the horrid eyes, feeling drawn into them and unable to look away.

He suddenly felt shivers run down his spine.

Tony stood up, looking around the room. He peered into every single dark patch in the room, even the spaces under his desk. The others called him paranoid, some even calling him crazy. They said it was a side effect from his anxiety attacks, and usually, he believed them. But this felt different. This time didn’t feel right at all.

He felt like he was being watched.

Tony’s eyes landed on the corner at the far side of his lab, the surprising darkness becoming uneasy. Setting down his coffee cup, he hands wrapped around the cold metal of his displaced pencil container. In one swift motion, he threw the cup into the corner, watching as it hit the stone wall and fell to the floor with a clang.

Tony let out a sigh of relief. There was nothing there. No danger. No life. No psychopathic mysterious figure there to kidnap him.

He grabbed the back of his chair, moving it so he could walk around the table to grab the pencil holder. He turned, seeing a dark figure half an inch away from him reaching towards him.

Fear had no time to run through the invincible Iron Man. Instead he found himself falling back over his desk and onto the floor, knocking off papers, pens, and more clutter. A black flash off to his left forced him to cover his face, more of a flinch than a shield.

Tony peered around his arm, seeing the dark figure standing there. Rather than reaching out to attack him as he thought, the figure was holding his white coffee cup, the glass a few inches from the ground. The all-black figure looked at him, its white-on-black eyes looking straight at him.

Thoughts ran through Tony’s mind faster than lightning.  _ Is it here to take me just like Peter? Is it here for the others? Did it come to bloat, to rub it in my face that I wasn’t fast enough to save Peter? It's here to kill me, isn’t it? _

Tony tried to talk, to tell Friday to set off some sort of alarm to warn the others, but he found that his voice was gone. He couldn’t speak at all, nor could he look away from the horrifying white and black eyes.

_ What is happening? _ He thought.  _ How is it keeping me from talking? Is it mind control? Did it do something to me before I turned around? Is it really here to kill me? _

Tony thought of every strategy possible, but he came up empty-handed. He couldn’t stand up, the figure was somehow keeping him from doing so. He couldn’t push himself across the floor away from the figure and purposely make as much noise as possible. He couldn’t even summon his armor to fight back. It was as if everything was broken.

The figure, which had returned the mug to the desk, moved to be standing directly in front of him, hovering over him. Despite not being able to move, Tony was slowly beginning to back away from the figure. But the figure continued to advance on him, keeping Tony from getting away.

Tony’s hand brushed against a cylindrical object, which he grabbed onto. With the little free strength he had, Tony threw the pen at the figure, who instinctively reached out to grab the unexpected assailant. The trance on him broke for a second, allowing his voice to finally come back.

“Friday! Alarm!”

All the lights in the lab turned off, replaced by flashing red lights. A loud horn started blaring. The figure looked at the ceiling before looking back at him. Tony could see the panic and a slight hint of betrayal.

“Everyone is on their way,” demanded Tony before the figure could do anything. “All you can do now is explain.”

Rather than answering verbally, it started making hand signs and arm motions. Tony was surprised, especially since he could easily understand them.

_ I need you to come with me. _

“Pff. Like I would actually fall for that.”

_ I’m not joking. _

“Why would I be so stupid and believe you?”

_ Peter sent me. _

Tony froze, hearing as footsteps were starting to become louder overhead. “Wh… What?”

_ Peter sent me. _

“I don’t understand. You kidnapped Peter. You took him away from me! Now you’re saying that he sent you to get me?”

The figure made more hand motions.  _ It's much to explain. But I promise… Peter sent me. Sent me to get you. To save him. _

“You came to get me to save him?”

The figure nodded.

“You’re trying to save him, after kidnapping him.”

The figure nodded once more, this time more slowly and in an exasperated manner.

Tony looked at the figure for a long time. He couldn’t wrap his head around what was going on. How is it possible for the same person who kidnapped someone to come to him and try to save them at the same time? How could someone like the figure in front of him have such a change of heart?

Everything in his body was saying not to trust the figure, but something deep down was overriding his protection-factor, telling him to go, to save his kid.

“Why should I trust you?” He asked, staring seriously into the figure’s eyes. “How do I know that you aren’t leading me to my own doom?”

The figure closed its eyes, the sound of the footsteps getting even louder. It felt like forever until the figure looked at him again. This time, it simply looked at him. It didn’t make any hand signs. It didn’t attempt to act out its reason. It simply looked at him with what seemed to Tony like hundreds of emotions behind it's white irises. With that one look, Tony understood everything, no words required.

_ Because of Peter _ .

“Alright, I believe you,” Tony answered, nodding his head and looking the figure directly in the eye. “Where do we go first?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. That was a lot longer than I was expecting. Please let me know what you guys think. Also- if you have any ideas for future chapters/events/characters, please let me know! It's hard coming up with all these ideas!
> 
> Thanks again you guys! Enjoy!


	9. Steve

“He’s been down there for hours,” Steve sighed. “Are we sure he’s okay?”

“Steve, I’ve been around Tony long enough to know that when he’s like this, you just need to leave him be,” said Natasha, sitting on the couch arm opposite of him. “Besides, there’s nothing that will tear him away from what he’s doing.”

“I’ve just never seen him like this before. The look on his face when he stared at the screen. The way he just didn’t say anything, just kept staring at the screen. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to watch.”

Steve looked down at his hands.

“Well,” said Nat in a surprisingly soft tone as she walks over to him. She sat down on the arm of the couch, lightly rubbing his back in a soothing way. “I know he isn’t the only one here who has been through something like this.”

“Really?”

She nodded her head. “I recall someone who not too long ago was in a similar frenzy looking for someone. Someone really close to them.”

“Oh…” answered Steve, looking once more down at the ground. “Yea I guess you’re right.”

“Don’t worry Steve. Tony will fix this. We’ll  _ all _ fix this. We’ll get to the bottom of everything that has happened. We’ll bring Peter back. And everything will go back to the way it’s supposed to be.”

Steve looked up at her with a look of gratitude, but he was close-to-violently interrupted.

Without warning, the lights turned off, replaced by flashing red lights. The sirens that rang through the building were just as deafening as when they went off the night before. Steve looked at Nat, who had the same startled-yet-alert expression on her face. Both their heads snapped towards the door as it opened with a bang, Barton and Banner racing in at almost the same time. Thor entered as well, coming in through the door from the kitchen.

“What the hell?” Demanded Barton. “What’s wrong this time?”

“Emergency alarm. There’s an immediate threat in the building”

“Show us Friday,” commanded Cap.

A large hologram appeared from the ceiling, bluish-green in the red flashing light of the tower. Everyone crowded around it, trying to see what was going on.

It was a live stream of Tony’s workshop. Papers and desk clutter littered the floor around the genius philanthropist, who was on his back and propped up on his elbows. Tony was looking up at a dark and ominous figure, who was slowly approaching while towering over him.

Shivers ran down Steve’s spine. No previous warning. No signs of trouble. A sudden alarm. A figure that hadn’t been detected beforehand. It was exactly what happened to Peter. This is the figure who kidnapped Peter, the same figure who was now standing over a member of their team.

_ It's here to kidnap Tony _ .

Steve turned, almost knocking over Barton as he sprinted towards the hallway. The others realized what was going on, turning and sprinting to get their gear as well. Steve ran down the hallway towards the stairs, seeing a small panel open on the side of the wall. Steve never slowed his pace as he reached inside, grabbing his shield and attaching it to his arm in one swift motion.

Slamming through the steel door that led to the staircase, Steve instinctively jumped over the metal railing. Flying downwards through the air, Steve’s enhanced senses allowed him to quickly count the number of floors, reaching out and confidently grabbing the one for Tony’s workshop. In one swift motion, he pulled himself flawlessly over the railing and swung open the door to the hallway.

A few seconds later Steve burst through the clear plexiglass door, stopping cold. The room was completely empty, no attacker, no kidnapper…

No Tony.

Nat and Barton ran in after him, followed by Banner and Thor a few seconds later.

“What the hell?” Said Barton.

“He was literally here like thirty seconds ago,” continued Banner.

“Friday, give me specs on Tony.”

“I’m sorry Captain. Tony is no longer on my radar scans.”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” said Banner.

“It doesn’t even look like Tony was trying to fight back,” said Barton, walking over to Tony’s desk and looking at everything on the spilled on the ground.

“You don’t think he…” Started Nat.

“No,” answered Steve, still looking at the spot where Tony was a few moments ago. “No, I don’t think he went willingly. Tony knows better than that.”

“Seems logical though,” said Nat. “If this is the same one who took Peter…”

Steve bent down, picking a picture frame off the ground. He turned it over in his hands, his heart becoming heavy at the sight of Stark and Peter holding the fake internship certificate.

“Steve,” said Banner, seeing the picture and looking up at him. “What are we going to do? We can’t just do nothing. If whoever this is managed to take  _ the _ Tony Stark, they must be after us too, right? What if they did something to Tony and that’s why he couldn’t fight back?”

The others looked at Steve too, watching and waiting for an answer, a plan of some sort to fix everything. But so many things were whirling through his mind that he couldn’t answer. Tony was gone. He was here, now he’s gone. Steve wasn’t fast enough. He wasn’t fast enough to save Tony…

Steve pushed all thoughts out of his mind. This was the last thing he needed right now, the last thing  _ Tony _ needed right now. Tony was somewhere in need of help, in need of  _ his _ help. And he wasn’t about to just sit around and hope everything was going to be alright.

Steve turned around, looking at Nat, who had a curious yet unreadable expression.

“Friday, lock down the tower. No one is getting in or out unless they have permission and have been identified by one of us.”

“Affirmative.”

Steve turned around, looking at each avenger individually. 

“Banner. I need you to get started on tracking down Stark. Come up with an algorithm tuned specifically to tracking him. 

“Barton, You’re on visual. Find a way to monitor every single device in this city for any possible sign of Tony. I don’t care if it's a security camera catching a glimpse of his shoelace, I want to know about it.”

“Thor. I want you to be our security. Anything that happens in this city that seems suspicious or out of place. You’re the first one there, evaluate the situation and inform us of any details or if you need backup. Think you can handle it?”

“Aye. I will be your protector fellow avengers,” he said, holding Mjolnir in front of him.

Steve then looked at Nat, who had a mildly impressed look on her pale face. He sighed.

“Nat. As much as I want to keep this out of the public hands, we can’t keep this kind of information to ourselves anymore. I need you to alert all major news feeds and media boards. We need everyone capable of helping to look for both Tony and Peter.”

She nodded her head, looking down at her repulsor cuffs and tapping a few invisible buttons. Steve continued to look around at everyone.

“If any of you have any other ideas that could help us, feel free to let me know. If we’re going to find them and bring them home, we need to work together and keep everyone informed of what’s going on, understood?”

Everyone nodded in agreement and understanding, turning towards the door and discussing their plans. As Steve turned towards the exit as well, a hand gently grabbed his arm and his attention.

“Steve, what’s  _ your _ plan? You said everyone should share their ideas, and I can tell that from your face that you have something you aren’t sharing.”

Steve sighed. “I have someone who might be able to help us.”

“Who else could possibly help us find…”

“I’m not talking about helping us find Tony.”

Nat looked him over, studying his face. He could tell when her mind reached understanding, for she stood up a little straighter and smiled at him. She walked around him, patting him on the shoulder and slithering towards the door.

“Make sure you pick up some plums for me while you’re out,” Nat said, forcing a smile on Steve’s face.

He looked down at the picture in his hand, looking at Peter’s bright, cheerful face next to Tony’s serious yet sarcastic one. He pushed away from the sense of tears coming on, looking at the door in front of him.

_ Don’t worry Tony _ , he thought.  _ We’ll bring you back, both of you. _

_ We’ll save you... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! We're finally getting to the parts that I've been wanting to get through. Thanks for sticking with me on this one. I wasn't really sure where it was going there for a while, but we've finally got through it. Please let me know what you all think and keep on reading!


	10. Tony

“So I’m failing to understand how this counts as trying to save Peter,” said Tony, pushing a branch out of the way. 

They had been walking for maybe a mile or two and Tony’s feet were burning. He was a little peeved at the fact that the dark figure hadn’t told him where they were going, and it had especially pissed him off when the silent vigilante had kept him from bringing his suit. He felt completely defenseless, and, dare he say it, vulnerable.

It was crazy how only an hour ago he was searching frantically for a way to find Peter, running himself into the ground with only a few hours of sleep. And even though he hadn’t gained anymore sleep, something about finally having a way to save his kid was pushing him through everything.

That is if this figure is telling the truth.

“I mean… the ride here was beautiful and all. I can officially say I have never ridden  _ on top _ of a semi-truck before. That was definitely one to check off the bachelor list…”

A hand suddenly clamped around his mouth, pulling him backward. Whoever was behind him pulled him behind a tree just as a truck went racing past. Tony froze, not daring to make a noise.

As soon as the rumble from the truck disappeared into the forest, the hands let him go, as did the feeling of petrified fear. He stumbled forward, rubbing his jaw as he turned around to face Eclipse.

“Thank you… but please… no, thank you.”

Eclipse just looked at him, not making a noise as she turned around, peering out from behind the tree. Tony looked at what she was looking at, his eyes widening at the sight of a large stone building that he hadn’t recognized before. It had completely hidden behind trees and the darkness until the truck drove up to it. As soon as the large metal door at the entrance closed behind the truck, the lights turned back off, hiding the building once again to the naked eye.

Tony was shocked.

“How the hell are we going to get through there? I mean… I’ve done things like this before, but not when the stakes are as high as this.”

Eclipse turned and looked at him for a while, thinking through something that Tony couldn’t understand. Her face was unreadable, but he could tell when an idea went through her head.

“Whatever your plan is, as long as it doesn’t hurt Peter or put him into harm, I’m a hundred percent good for it.”

Eclipse faced him and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, opening them when she exhaled. She nodded her head at him, giving him a  _ are you sure? _ Look.

When he gave a little head nod, she took a step towards him, giving him one last look of reassurance before raising a hand towards his face. Tony looked straight at her, not really sure what to expect. A shiver ran down his spine, not sure if it was because of the cold winter wind that whipped around him, or the growing feeling of floating that came from staring into Eclipse’s eyes.

Tony felt dizzy staring into her eyes, the world around him starting to spin. He got to the point where he couldn’t even see the raised hand Eclipse held raised. The second Eclipse delicately touched his forehead, he closed his eyes, not wanting to watch what was going to happen.

But nothing happened. There was just him standing there, Eclipse touching his head, and the dark behind his closed eyes. Was Eclipse trying to trick him? Was this all a scam from the beginning and Eclipse really was trying to kidnap him?

After a few seconds of just standing there, Tony felt her hand leave his forehead. He let out a breath, one he didn’t realize he had been holding.

“Not gonna lie, Eclipse. When I asked if you had a plan, I was hoping it would be more than…”

Tony fell over when he opened his eyes, his back hitting cold cement floors. The cold, winter-filled forest was gone, replaced by a small room with stone walls. Tony didn’t even realize he had moved. No movement of his body, no passing of air, no change in scenery. Everything about it sent chills down his spine, scaring him to the core.

Eclipse stood in front of him, breathing heavily. It looked like a few pieces of her uniform were torn, and one part on her shoulder was stained with dark blood.

He may have not felt like he had moved, but she certainly did.

“After we save Peter… you’re going to explain that.”

Eclipse shook her head in exasperation, holding out her hand to help him off the cold floor. Together they snuck out the door to the small room, her leading and making sure the hallway was safe and clear.

After turning a few corners, the rescue team approached a large guarded door. Tony stood on watch while Eclipse tapped the small electronic keyboard, the door opening after a few seconds.

The room they entered was freezing, instantly sending shivers down Tony’s spine. It was dark except for a few beams of light shining through a grate in the high ceiling, barely illuminating a slouched figure on the far side.

“Peter!” Shouted Tony, falling forward to reach his kid.

He was as cold as ice, his skin as pale as the stone around them. The silver cuffs around his wrists were almost the same color as Peter’s hands. His red and blue suit was ripped in different places, exposing his raw skin. The only bit of warmth was a completely black leather coat that someone had attempted to wrap around him, held around him by a few bits of string and a zip tie.

“Peter, hey. I need you to answer me, buddy, come on.”

At the sound of Mr. Stark’s voice, Peter’s eyes slightly opened and his lips parted, trying to say something, but his voice only came out as a whisper too faint to hear.

“Mr. Stark?” He said, gaining some strength.

“Yes, I’m here kiddo. It’s me.”

“You’re alive?”

“Yea kiddo. I’m alright. If anything I should be asking you that question.”

Peter smiled but only for a second before a fit of coughing and pain riddled his restrained body. Tony rested his hands on Peter’s shoulders, trying to give him words of encouragement while his kid shivered with cold and fear.

“Alright Petey,” Tony said when Peter’s coughs die down. “Just hang on a second alright? We’re going to get you out of here.”

Tony gets to work on the restraints, studying them and figuring out the best way to break them open.

“How did you find me?” Peter asked, turning his head slightly to look at his mentor.

“Well, it seems you have a friend looking out for you, kiddo.”

Peter’s head lifted a little. “Eclipse brought you here?”

“Yep. She came and found me at the tower and brought me to you. If I didn’t know any better, I would say you have a great new friend looking out for you…”

A horrid noise shot through the room, sounding as close to demons screaming as one can get. Tony turned to see the dark vigilante grabbing her head and stumbling forward. She collapsed to the ground, holding her head and starting to convulse.

“Eclipse!” Shouted Peter, gaining a sudden burst of energy. He struggled against his restraints, trying to get to her. To Tony’s amazement, Peter ripped the cuffs off the wall, Tony never seeing such strength come from his kid before.

Within a second, Toy was next to Peter at her side, trying to ease her and understand what was happening. He looked at Peter, surprised to see tears streaming down the boy’s bruised face. 

Before he could register what was going on, Tony felt himself lift off the ground by many strong arms. He tried to fight back, but the guards were overpowering him. His attention turned to a commotion to his left, where Peter was struggling against his own three guards, his fatigue clearly visible by his lack of strength.

Tony was about to shout something out to Peter when a man walked in the room. He was short, but one couldn’t tell by the way he held his head and stature. He wore a grey winter coat, his black-gloved hands resting next to him. He had a devious smile on his face, as though he had been expecting to come face-to-face with the billionaire for years.

“I must say.” His voice was stone cold, despite the fact that Tony could see his breath as he talked. “It is such an honor having the great Tony Stark here with us. We certainly were not expecting you this early.”

“Alright, listen here Sokovia,” Tony answered, jabbing at the man’s thick accent. “I don’t care what you want with me. I’m used to all of this by now. But there’s no reason for you to keep Peter here. Let him go, then we’ll talk.”

“Ah, but he does have a reason to be here,” the man answered, turning his head slightly to glance at the still struggling Eclipse on the floor behind him. “As for you, well… we’ll get to that shortly.”

Tony didn’t answer, only continuing his small yet insignificant struggles against those restraining him.

“Where are my manners,” the man said, stepping closer to Tony. “My name is Baron Zemo, but you won’t be needing that for long anyways. And the reason we brought you and your small Spiderman here is to bring to the world a new era…” He took a step closer, getting right into Tony’s face. “One that will in no shape or form be bound to fail.”

Instead of fear running through his face, rather than begging for mercy as Zemo had thought, Tony’s face simply broke out into a cheesy smile.

“What are you smiling at Stark?”

“That’s the thing… I’m smiling at the fact that you’re a hundred percent wrong.

“Excuse me?”

“I can already tell you know you’re going to fail.”

“You dare… Explain to me how. How does this look like I’m going to fail?”

“Because in order to succeed…” said Tony, looking Zemo straight in the eyes with mischief and ferocity mixed into one. “... You would actually need to have your valuable asset.”

Zemo’s eyes grew wide as he whipped around, looking at the empty space and the wide-open door. He cursed loudly in a language Tony guessed was Russian. He barked an order at guards close by, who picked up Tony and Peter at the same time, escorting them out of the room.

While the guards carried them down the hallway, Tony’s mind was in a whirlwind of thoughts, his mind never being on such high overload before. Yet one thing rested in the forefront of his thoughts.  _ Don’t worry Pete. I’ll still get you out of here. _

_ We’ll think of something…  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to post this next chapter! I'll try to post more often. Thanks for everyone who left comments and please feel free to leave more! Mahalo!


	11. Eclipse

Hardstone hit the side of Eclipse’s head as she stumbled down the hallway. Walking as close to the wall as possible, Eclipse used it as an anchor and driver, using it to carry herself down the hall.

It wasn’t like she didn’t know what she was doing. She knew perfectly well what was happening. Despite Zemo being in control of her mind, she was conscious of what she was doing and where she was going, as if Zemo was purposely trying to cause her pain rather than take over her mind. 

Eclipse leaned further into the wall as another wave of pain shot through her. Fire the color of ice shot through her mind, searing through most of her thoughts.

Keyword…  _ most _ .

There was one thought that Zemo couldn’t get rid of, the only one that could save Peter and- now- Tony. It was the only thing keeping her from submitting to Zemo’s torture; the only thing keeping her moving forward.

Yet something else is there amidst the pain and fire, something building in her core. It terrifies her, feeling like it's crawling up towards the surface from the depths of hell.

As another wave of pain ran through her head, Eclipse pushed forwards, the metal door to the lab swinging open. Her body trembled at the flash in her mind and she almost tripped on one of the cracks on the floor.

Eclipse collapsed onto the table counter, knocking over empty coffee cups and sending papers flying to the floor. Her entire head was screaming, Zemo trying all he could to take over her mind. She should have fallen under his control by now, or at least be torn apart doing so. But something inside of her was fighting against it, fighting for an unknown cause that was lost to the decades.

She stood herself up as best she could, her knees bent and her hips balancing against the sturdy desk. Her fingers typed as fast as possible on the keyboard with what limited and clear vision she had. It was a good thing that Zemo couldn’t see exactly what she was doing, or he might have killed her on the spot.

Just as her fingers finished typing the last few digits of the coded sequence, an electric shock ran through her mind, causing her to collapse onto the floor. The door to the room practically flew off its hinges as Zemo stormed in. Eclipse heard him swear in Sokovian as he saw the computer screen.

“ _ You little… _ ” he hissed.

Eclipse felt herself suddenly lift off the ground, a tight hand around her neck. She tried to fight back with basic self-defense tactics, but the control in her head was too strong and the pain was traumatizing.

She heard him order something, her eyes opening to be staring into those of anger.

“Of everything I’ve done for you… all the caring… all the love. And this is what you choose to return? Betraying me?”

Zemo threw her backward, hand still on her neck. She didn’t even realize they had moved into the center of the room until her back slammed into hard, freezing metal. Her eyes opened wide in fear as large, arm-length cuffs wrapped around her arms, keeping her from moving. Similar cuffs wrapped around her neck and knees, rendering her completely defenseless.

She knew this chair, she knew this situation… but she couldn’t remember what. All she knew was it caused her pain… more pain than any normal person could handle. Something attached around the top of her head and behind her ears, touching the areas with the little blue lights and sending chills down her spine. A voice rang through her head, only audible to her. It spoke to her in a language that she couldn’t recognize, but one that reached her core.

_ Initializing recalibration... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise to post another chapter soon but don't know when that'll be, and I'm sorry that this one is so short! I promise there will be some longer ones coming up. Please leave comments and kudos. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask!


	12. Steve

_ Breathe. Breathe, you’re fine. It’s fine. Everything will go alright _ .

Steve wasn’t completely sure why he was so nervous. He knew nothing was going to happen. It was fixed.  _ They _ had fixed it. There was no going back to the past. Yet he was still nervous. 

Whether it was the past coming to haunt him or the possibility that he  _ might not actually be here _ , Steve took one last deep breath before carefully turning the rustic, golden-colored door handle.

The apartment looked almost like the last one, same small size, same brown walls, same dim lighting. But things in this apartment looked a lot neater, not coated with dust. And there was an actual bedroom this time, not just a patched-up mattress in the middle of where the living room is supposed to be. Yet there are still only the bare essentials; stove, fridge, small couch, and a small table with only one wooden chair.

Standing in the kitchen, Steve smiled as he looked at the different items stuck to the fridge. There are a few pictures of different vacation spots, a card with Natasha’s handwriting with the words “ _ just cuz… _ ” on the front, and an admission ticket to the  _ Captain America _ exhibit at the Smithsonian. In the middle of the fridge is the front cover of a magazine title a few months ago. Steve reached out to smooth out the crease of the picture, the one consisting of himself, T’Challa, and the other Avengers standing in front of the newly revised Sokovian-Wakandan Accords.

“Last time you were here,” said a voice behind him, causing Steve to instantly lose his smile and whip around, shield at the ready. “A bunch of agents was after me for a crime I didn’t commit.”

Steve’s shoulders relaxed and his smile came back. There was a slight sense of deja-vu that ran over him at the sight of the long dark brown hair tucked under a light denim baseball cap. A long light grey was tight enough to leave just a little imagination, yet it was enough to cover the metallic left arm that you wouldn’t know existed if it weren’t for a little space between where the long sleeve shirt ended and black-out gloves began.

“Don’t worry,” Steve answered, leaning his shield against the counter.

For the first time in a long time, the two super-soldiers embraced, smiling and clapping each other on the back. The tension in the room disappeared almost instantly, both men finally relaxing.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” steve said when they pulled apart. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small brown paper bag. “I picked these up for you”

Bucky took the bag, smiling as he reached inside and pulled out two larger than average plums. He chuckled slightly at them. “Thanks. And make sure to pass the message along to Natasha too.”

“I’ll make sure it gets to her.” 

The two just stood there awkwardly for a minute, not really looking at each other, and not knowing what to say either. Despite not wanting to ruin the moment, Steve could avoid the situation anymore. He swallowed, trying to chase down his nerves.

“Bucky, I… I need your help.”

Face falling, Bucky’s smile disappeared once more. “I knew you were here for a reason.”

“I’m sorry Bucky. I know this is such short notice, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

“It's not me is it?” Bucky asked, sitting down in the one wooden chair.

“No. No, no, no, no. I promise.” Steve stammered, seeing the look on his best friend’s face. “We just need your expertise.”

“We?”

Steve sighed. “I figured it would be best to tell you first before you heard it from the news…” He leaned against the kitchen counter, looking down at the floor. “Tony was kidnapped last night.”

Bucky leaned forward in his chair. “What?”

Steve nodded. “We aren’t sure how. All we know is that we got an alert that there was an intruder in Tony’s workshop, but by the time we got there, he was gone. It was the same thing that happened to Peter.”

“Peter… the spider kid? He was taken too?”

“That’s why Tony was the only one in his workshop. He was looking for Peter and we thought it would be best if he was alone.”

“So… this is a rescue mission? I don’t understand why you need me then.”

Steve remained silent. His brain was going in so many different directions that he couldn’t answer, not to mention the fact that his emotions had suddenly started appearing.

“Steve,” Bucky said, getting his friend to look up at him. “What happened?”

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his brain long enough to speak. “When I finally got down to Tony’s workshop, there… there wasn’t any sign of a fight. There was nothing that could give any indication that Tony had tried to fight back. It simply looked like he had just vanished.”

Steve folded his arms, looking back at the ground. “The others think he may have just voluntarily gone with the figure that took him, but I… I don’t think he did.”

“What makes you say that?”

“The view on the screen when it popped up. Tony was frozen on the ground, looking up at the dark figure as it towered over him. Even from that angle, I could see clearly that his eyes were wide open. And if there’s one thing that Tony never allows is for someone to tower over him, even when they catch him off guard.”

“Steve,” said Bucky with worry in his voice. “Are you suggesting…?”

He nodded. “Mind control.”

Bucky cursed under his breath, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

“Listen, Buck. I know you don’t want to be pulled into any more of these situations, and I hate for bringing you into this, but if something happened to Tony- if he really is being mind-controlled- there’s no one else who could help us out more than you.”

Bucky ran a hand through his hair as he stared at the table, not answering. 

“Please Bucky…”

“Cap, come in. We got something.” Barton’s voice said through his ear-com. “You might want to see this.”

“Copy that,” Steve answered, turning back to Bucky. “What do you say Buck? We could really use your help with this.”

Bucky doesn’t say a word or make any signs, he just simply stares at the wooden floor. Steve can practically see the wheels turning in his head, each passing second making him more anxious on his friend’s response.

After a few minutes, Bucky leaned forward, rested his arms on the table, and looked up, brown eyes meeting with Steve’s bright blue ones. A slight smile spread across his face. “Who’s bike we gonna take?”

Steve smiles.  _ This is it. _

_ We might actually make this work... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I told you I would post a new and longer chapter soon (even if it did take a few weeks).
> 
> In other news, I recently made a google site that puts all my stories in one place and has updates on new stories and chapter updates. I would greatly appreciate if you would check it out. Here's the link if you would like: https://sites.google.com/view/cloudyerd11/home
> 
> Please check it out if you would like, and as usual, please let me know what you think of the story or if you have any questions. Thanks for reading and keep smiling. :)


	13. Tony

Tony grunted as his knees hit the hard cement. Whether it was a foot or a fist that made contact with his rib cage he wasn’t sure, but all the wind was suddenly knocked out of his lungs. Through his coughing and gasping, he heard a whimper next to him, looking to see a guard with a hand in Peter’s hair, pushing his face into the hard cement.

A hand painfully grabbed his own hair, turning his attention away from his kid to in front of him. Despite being forced to look forward, Tony was still watching Peter out of the corner of his eye, breathing a slight sigh of relief when they forced him up to be on his knees rather than being smashed into the floor.

Pain rocketed through his face as a hand made contact with him. Through the temporary dizziness, Tony could see a blurry Zemo angrily glaring down at him.

“Eyes forward,” he commanded. “I want you to pay attention to this.”

Taking a step back, Tony could see what Zemo was referring to. In a large, metal chair was Eclipse, struggling and in pain. Large metal restraints wrapped around the entirety of both her arms and similar ones around her knees. Another one was wrapped around her neck, keeping her from moving at all. Above her head was a large circular disk; needles and spark-expeditors sticking out in random places.

Despite being completely restrained, Eclipse was struggling, trying to get away from the chair and whatever torture was filling her head. Tony could tell that there was no way she could get out of that, let alone an average person. It is completely designed to torture someone to the maximum extent.

“Let this be an example to all of you standing in this room,” Zemo said, addressing the guards around the room. “An example of what happens when you go against the nature you were born and blessed with. And for you two,” Zemo continued, glaring at Tony and Peter. “This is a preview of what is to come.”

Zemo turned around, reaching towards a makeshift keyboard as Peter’s desperate voice rang throughout the room.

“Why are you doing this to her? You already punished her for bringing Mr. Stark here. There’s no need to go this far!”

“But that’s the thing. It  _ does _ need to go this far.” He turned to Peter, Tony clearly seeing the anger in his eyes. “You see, your newly acquainted  _ friend _ here decided to betray us- betray me. She sent out a signal, giving whoever receives it our un-findable location.”

His voice filled with more anger. “She might have compromised this entire establishment and everything that we have worked for up to this moment, including her. She has failed us, and those who fail must be held responsible for their actions.”

Zemo pressed a button on the keyboard, watching the scene unravel behind him. The circular disk above Eclipse’s head lowered, surrounding her head. A small screen lowered from the device, covering her eyes, hiding her from the outside world. The small trinkets holding the needles and expeditors expand, moving to be hovering on either side of Eclipse’s head, right behind her ears.

“Behold and marvel at the new enlightenment about to begin.”

“NO!” Shouts Peter as Zemo presses the keyboard once more.

The expeditors jam into Eclipse’s head, causing her to release a scream louder than anything Tony has ever heard before. All the muscles in her arms and legs begin to spasm, tensing, and releasing at an alarming rate.

As Eclipse screamed, the sound of demons screaming returned, though so much worse than before. To Tony, it sounded like a person crying from a different, far off place, a place beyond the grave even.

His head instantly turning to look at his kid next to him, his heartbreaking at the sight.

A single tear ran down Peter’s broken face, that tear stabbing Tony in his soul. He finally began to understand the situation. Peter really cared about Eclipse, in a way that he might never understand. He knew something about her that no one else knew, had created a connection with her. Despite kidnapping him, Peter had a place in his ever-loving heart for her, a place that could never be taken away.

Tony’s head snapped back to Eclipse, her voice completely cut off as the needles stabbed into the same place as the expeditors. Her muscles continued to struggle, though the rate was declining. The disk lifted from her head, leaving her to grapple in the metal restraining chair.

Instantly, Eclipse stopped struggling, doing nothing more than stare at the ceiling far above them. The metal cuffs opened, but she remained where she was. Zemo approached the device, staring down his nose at Eclipse.

“Rise,” he commanded, Eclipse instantly responding. She stood in the middle of the room, facing the spot where Tony and Peter were.

Tony couldn’t understand what he was witnessing. Eclipse was a statue, unmoving, unconscious to her own thoughts. There wasn’t so much as a faint movement of her shoulders indicating that she was breathing. Nowhere on her was there a sign of life, which chilled Tony to the bone.

“Eclipse…” A broken voice begged next to him. “Eclipse. Please. This isn’t you. Please. Fight through this.”

The only response to Peter’s desperate pleas came from Zemo in the form of laughter, which boiled Tony’s blood even more.

“Can’t you see? There is no more Eclipse. She had her chance, but she ruined it. Now there is only her mission and nothing else. Her destiny. She will fix the damages that those who came before her created; complete the tasks that the  _ Winter Solider _ failed to do.”

Evil flashed through Zemo’s eyes, practically lighting up the room. “She  _ is _ the new power.”

Strange energy filled the room, one Tony could pick up almost instantly. He felt his muscles become slack, no longer being able to hold themselves up. A fire started to fill his mind, something breaching him from the outside, beginning to burn away his thoughts. He would have completely succumbed to the pain if it weren’t for a scream that pierced the air next to him.

His vision - which he didn’t realize had begun to fade away - came back. Tony shook his head, looking in horror as Peter cried out in pain next to him. Peter leaned as far as the restraints and guards allowed him too. His arms shook, muscles flexing and tightening as though he was trying to hold up a building. He raised his head, his face towards the sky, begin for someone to help him.

“Help!” Peter gasped, sounding like there was too much pressure on his lungs. “Help! I’m trapped down here! Please!”

Tony opened his mouth to ask Peter what he was talking about - to let him know he was alright - but his words were taken away by a faceful of water. But his face was completely dry other than the beads of sweat sprouting on his forehead. Yet he couldn’t breathe, his head submerged underwater with pressure on the back of his head.

As fast as the feeling came, it left. Tony panted, trying to regain his breath. He made the mistake of looking up at Eclipse, seeing her staring straight at him. The second his eye made contact with her white eyes, flashbacks filled his head. Water once again covered his face, this time accompanied by the overly-vivid memory of terrorists forcing his head into a tub of water. A person he couldn’t see brought his head up, which didn’t leave him enough time to take in a breath before he was shoved back under. Tony couldn’t see anything in front of him, only the sight of the rusted tub, the blackened water, and the group of men standing around him every time his head was brought back up.

It wasn’t until his back hit a solid surface that he was brought back to the present. His whole body shook and his lungs were still unsure of whether it was safe to take in a full breath. He was now sitting in the chair Eclipse had been in - what felt like - hours before.

Tony felt a hand forcing his head back against the freezing metal. Through the fingers, his eyes were glued onto Peter’s, seeing the tears stream down his face as he stared back at him. Tony’s own cheeks became wet with tears, his subconscious fighting to get to his kid. But there was nothing he could do; Eclipse had complete control of everything.

Despite there being no feeling in his arms and legs, the second the metal cuffs wrapped around him the nightmares came back. Tony screamed and tried to fight in order to get away from the visions of being held down on an Afghan operating table. He could practically perceive the scalpels piercing his chest, opening the fainted scar where the Arc Reactor was all those years ago. Tony could feel everything: the surgical cuts; the stab wounds; the tube insertions; even the sketchy stitch marks. He was reliving hell all over again, this time just as bad as the first time.

The circular contraption descended from above him, Tony fighting through Eclipse’s control and his torture long enough to close his eyes. The machine whirred, a pressure coming to touch the side of his head right behind his ears. Something began to seep into him, burning the skin and the tissue beneath.

Through the pain and flashbacks, Tony heard a voice. Not through his ears, but inside his mind. The voice was cold, filled with hate, and continued to force shivers down his spine.  _ You walked into this one Stark. _

_ You’re mine now. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO EVERYONE :D
> 
> I can't thank you all enough for the support you have shown me through this story. Your kind comments. Your gracious kudos. Even just opening the story makes me happy.
> 
> And yes, the flashback Peter has is from when he was trapped under the building in Homecoming, in case it caused any confusion. ;)
> 
> Please let me know what you all think and make sure you check out other stories as well (whether my own or someone else's).
> 
> Thanks for reading and keep smiling. :)


	14. Bucky

“Barton,” Steve ordered the second the duo stepped into the room. “What’s the status?”

Bucky looked around the room once he entered, feeling the off energy of the room. He could practically see the tension in the air, which almost made him shiver.

“I see you brought back up,” Natasha said as Steve passed her, smiling at the new recruit.

“You know it,” Bucky answered, bending down to give Natasha a big hug, who gratefully returned it. The second they pulled apart, the friendly-affection was gone, instantly replaced with the seriousness that filled the space before.

Everyone was gathering around a large computer system; correction- a system made up of about seven different Stark Projector Monitors. Barton was the only one sitting in a chair, the others - including who Bucky assumed was the infamous Thor - standing close on either side of him.

“We received a signal a little bit ago,” Barton said, replying to Steve’s previous question. It came from an anonymous source, but there were multiple counteracts and failsafes keeping us from reading it completely. We had to work through the coding to get a clear location. It was scattered to the point where we thought it was a private airplane with a damaged receiver. But after we tracked it to a remote location upstate.”

“According to our database, there’s nothing up there,” Natasha continued. “Turns out there’s a whole research facility up there naked to the average eye.”

“You’re kidding,” Steve said, leaning down to look at the navigator map on the screen. Sure enough, there was the pearly outline of a large facility in the sea of navigator black.

“But since it isn’t on any of our files, we have no idea what to expect.”

“Is there a way to enter their security system to find out what we’re dealing with?” Bucky asked. He was answered by Barton instantly starting to type on the keyboard and Natasha giving him a smile.

“Look at you thinking like an Avenger.”

Bucky smiled, trying not to blush, especially when he saw Steve giving him an even bigger smile. It wasn’t every day he got to use his _“_past training” for good, other than evading suspecting cops or hiding in plain sight.

“Alright,” Barton said after a minute or two of furious typing. “We have visuals.”

He clicked the enter button but didn’t quite lean back in the chair in victory, continuing to code on the small white keys. The black screen sprang to life, filling with the sight of a large center room. There were four main figures, all the others easily recognizable as guardsmen. On the lower side of the screen were two captives, forced on their knees and restrained. One was wearing a torn and tattered, red-blue-and-black superhero suit and was significantly more beat up and bruised. The other was wearing a stealth outfit of his own design clearly; not necessarily a suit but rather sleek gear thrown together last minute and most likely grabbed on the way out the door.

Or workshop in this case.

An unknown man stood opposite of them. He was short and wore an expression clearly visible to the spying heroes: triumph.

Between the man and their friends stood a figure encased in black. Even with the less-than-par videography, Bucky could clearly see that her eyes were black as well, only broken by whiter-than-white irises.

“That’s who kidnapped Tony,” Natasha whispered. And by the blank expression on everyone else’s faces, Bucky could tell she was mainly stating that for him.

“Here’s your audio,” Barton said, the clicking of the keyboard ending abruptly.

“Can’t you see?” The man said, his voice cutting out through the faulty service. Barton clicked on the keyboard a few more times, the audio coming through with ease. “... there is only her mission and nothing else. Her destiny.” 

“They must be talking about whoever that is,” Natasha stated, pointing to the figure in all black.

The man continued his speech, staring down at the two captives. “She will fix the damages that those who came before her created; complete the tasks that the _ Winter Soldier _ failed to do.”

The air around Bucky froze at the mention of his name, the feeling of being watched once again returning as everyone turned their attention towards him. He instinctively tightened his left, metal fist; his right hand gripped the padded handle of the handgun on his thigh.

He knew he was safe. T’Challa had fixed that, they even tested it to make sure. But that unsettling sense of fear filled his mind; his heartbeat racing; his muscles tensing.

As fast as the sudden attention came, it was gone, but it didn’t keep Bucky from staying just a little tense.

The video briefly flickered, the static filling the screen for only a split second. Nothing changed, but a defiant smile did break out across the man’s face.

“She _ is _ the new power.” The villain hissed.

The sound of screaming filled the room, everyone losing their breath at the sight of Peter struggling against those holding him back.

“Help!” His weak voice cried out. “Help! I’m trapped down here! Please!”

“What’s happening to him?” Banner asked.

“I don’t know,” Natasha answered.

Bucky couldn’t do anything. He was frozen in place, unable to take his eyes off the sight of the teenager screaming for his life. It was like he was seeing himself - his past tortured self - being reflected off the boy's face.

“Buck?”

He could hear Steve, but he couldn’t drag his eyes and attention away long enough to look at the hero standing off to his left.

“They’re in his head,” he choked out. “They're showing him the most traumatizing thing that has happened to him. Whatever it is, he’s essentially reliving it.”

Even Natasha let out a curse of disbelief, everyone’s attention returning to the struggling spiderling. Bucky was thankful no one was questioning how he knew that or what proof he had to back his claim. Not that he would have been able too.

They might have fixed the mind control, but they would never be able to get rid of the memories.

“Wait…” said Banner suddenly, breaking the silence as he leaned into the screen. “What’s Tony doing?”

Indeed there was something wrong with the billionaire, but it was confusing as to what was happening to him. He seemed to be gasping for air, as though he was being given a face full of water. Almost immediately after, the sound of Tony taking in a deep breath filled the small space.

Curious and frightened at the same time, all of them watched as Tony lifted his head, looking straight at the blackened figure staring intensely at him. The instant he did, Tony began to once again begin struggling for air. His entire body tensed, his arms fighting for freedom from invisible forces beyond their understanding. Even through the screen, they could see him visibly _ shaking _, his movements violent and disturbing.

No one understood what was happening… except Natasha.

“_ No_,” she whispered in disbelief.

“Nat,” Steve said in a serious tone. “What’s happening to him.”

“You know how Tony was kidnapped back in 2008? How in the cave they tortured him for information and to convince him to do their bidding?”

“Yea?”

“Do you know that they used to waterboard him?”

Steve cursed, but he clearly wasn’t the only one. “You’re saying he’s living through that right now? He thinks that he’s being waterboarded.”

Natasha didn’t answer, not that she could, for the video’s movement shifted as guards swarmed around Tony. The removed his restraints, carrying him past a sobbing Peter who was no longer screaming but still struggling. When they - with a force that made even Bucky angry - slammed their friend down into the intricate looking experiment chair, Tony’s face unfazed, returning to him gasping for air. When the guards placed the arm-length cuffs around Tony, he began screaming and struggling, though it was clear it wasn’t from the restraints. Whatever he was screaming about, they might never know, for the video was immediately interrupted by the stressed-out super-soldier Captain.

“I can’t watch this any longer,” Steve said, anger practically visible in his voice. “We need to do something- _ now_. Everyone suit up.”

Each Avenger simultaneously sprang into action, splitting to their different directions. Barton remained at the computer, and Bucky could easily tell he was getting their destination’s coordinates.

“Rhodey needs to be on this too,” Natasha stated, already pulling out her phone.

Steve on the other hand remained where he was, staring at the screen that was currently paused and muted. It honestly startled Bucky to see the anger - no, _ rage _ \- in his best friend’s eyes, an emotion he had never seen before, even before his pre-super-soldier-serum days.

Bucky reactively reached out, resting a calming yet still metal hand on Steve’s shoulder. Steve looked down at it before looking up to meet Bucky’s eyes.

“I’ve got you, pal,” Bucky said calmly. “Lead the way. I’ll make sure we get them back.”

Steve nodded, the two dropping their eye contact to look once more at the screen.

This shouldn’t have happened. And yet, it did. Two Avengers were kidnapped and are being tortured at that very moment. Unspeakable things were happening to them, things they couldn’t stand for. This isn’t just a rescue mission. This doesn’t just mean getting their friends back.

_ This means war_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the official posting for Day 4 of my September Challenge. I'm so glad I finally got this chapter done, for it has been sitting uncompleted in "Saved as Draft" for three months now.
> 
> Please feel free to leave comments, questions, or suggestions for future chapters and/or stories. Seriously, please do. I'm lonely you guys XD
> 
> Thanks for reading, you amazing and lovely people, and don't forget to keep smiling. :)


	15. Tony

Bright, blistering light was all Tony could see, as though someone was shining a spotlighted sun on his eyes. But remarkably, he adjusted to it rather quickly, the burning sensation that normally accompanied bright light not phasing him in the slightest.

He finally realized that he was standing in the middle of a room, his mind unsure of how he got there. To be honest, his mind wasn’t sure about anything regarding the world happening around him, but he involuntarily chose to disregard that. The only thing his mind was focused on at that moment was the pain.

He may have not been experiencing the pain at that moment, but the lingering thought of it was ever-present. Tony was terrified of it coming back- being completely helpless once more as it completely consumed him. That pain was unlike anything he had ever felt in his life. He would do anything - whatever it took - to not have to experience that pain again.

Whatever it was they had done to him.

Looking around the larger-than-average room, Tony finally realized he wasn’t alone. There were a substantial number of people, most of them matching exactly. He quickly ruled them out as guards only there for appeal, taking note of those gripping their weapons while watching him with a close eye.

A dark looming figure stood a few paces away from him, the only spot of color glowing from her white irises. There was no life behind her haunting eyes, but Tony still felt something familiar there. She was like him, or maybe it was vice versa. She was an ally, stuck in the same position he was in. Did she know about the pain too? Was she forcing herself to follow suit in order to avoid the severe amount of pain?

Continuing his gaze to his right, Tony met eyes with a shorter man but quickly dropped the contact when the sudden thought of violation crossed his mind. Somehow he knew that he should never so much as touch that man let alone disobey him. Maybe it would lead to him undergoing the pain again, and we already know how he feels about that.

And then there was the other man.

No- not a man. A boy. A  _ child _ . They have a child here. What did he do to end up in this room with them? And why did he look that way, with his hands tight behind his back with wire and his face bruised and blemished? Had he disobeyed someone? Had he fought against the leading man? And why was it that - despite his head hanging low to the ground - he kept shooting glances towards Tony out of the corner of his eyes.

An order rang through the room, undoubtedly from the Leader. But Tony was still too disoriented to comprehend what was said. The guards came to life, stepping towards the boy on his knees. Tony could see in his peripheral vision that there was one guard aiming his weapon in his direction, but he simply ignored him and his semi-empty threat.

Tony’s gaze returned to the boy, studying him as he refused to look up, even as the guards painfully grabbed his arms and lifted him off the ground. His hair - which covered his upper face- was wet from sweat, the cold air of the room freezing the droplets to his face. Yet there were still liquid droplets next to his eyes, which Tony immediately recognized as tears. The boy had been crying. But why? For who?

They dropped the boy in the chair, the same chair that Tony knows he had been in moments before. Tony didn’t move a muscle, fearing what would happen if he went against the voice in his head screaming at him not too.

What drew at Tony the most was how the boy didn’t struggle. He didn’t fight against the guards as they placed the restraints around him. He didn’t become tense as the machine began to whirl and move above his head. The boy didn’t so much as flinch when the screen covered his closed eyes.

Why though? Why wasn’t the boy fighting? Surely he must have something to fight for, right? Or maybe someone? Had they taken whatever or whoever the boy had away from him?

Tony might never know, for the room erupted with stone.

Whipping his head around, Tony watched as a man dressed in a blue and white uniform dropped from the ceiling. Something detached from his arm; a circular disk that took down three guards before returning to its owner. 

A little ways away, another man busted through the door, this one clearly armed with a stealth assault rifle held by a large and muscular metal arm. He quickly shot two guards, appearingly surveying the room for more.

The most impressive was a large, chrome, metal man who busted through the room. He punched the unprepared guard closest to him, who dropped unconscious immediately. Two attachments opened out of the robot’s arms, firing at most of the guards around the room.

At the same time, the two metal men pointed their weapons - including the large one that rested upon the metal man’s shoulder - at the trio standing in the middle of the room. The one in the middle - the blue and white attacker - held his shield at the ready, sporting its red and white circular pattern.

The leader didn’t move an inch, but rather stood up a little straighter.

** _Get your suit, Stark_ ** .

Tony didn’t so much as flinch at the unwelcomed voice in his head. He simply listened to it, connecting the thought of disobeying the voice with pain. Instinctively he stuck his arm out next to him. He noted the confused and unprepared looks from the attackers, particularly the squinting of the man with the shield.

There was a pull at the back of his mind, from somewhere not in this room. The entity was drawing him in, despite the strength of obedience towards the Leader. He could feel whatever it was close and getting closer, at the same pace it took for each of the attacker’s eyes to grow wide and their face’s to fall.

A small explosion came from the wall to his left, something cold and familiar instantly encasing his arm. With the gauntlet officially secured and ready, he held his arm towards the man with the shield, the palm of his hand glowing with the energy from the repulsor.

The other metal man responded by holding his hand up as well, an exact copy of blue light showing from the center of his hand as well.

Tony did his best to keep from looking at it, the same control in the back of his mind keeping him from doing so as well. He simply kept his gaze forward, in the same direction as the center of the shield in front of him. Above the shield he could see that the man’s lips were moving, no sound being emitted from them at all.

A shiver of fear ran down Tony’s spine. For the first time, he realized he couldn’t hear anything. There was no sound in the room. And he didn’t understand it before, but the only reason he knew they were under attack was from the sheer amount of stone and dust flying through the space.

He was completely encased in silence, unable to understand anything happening outside of the range of his own mind. The realization went straight to his gut, giving him a slight urge to hurl.

But Tony never got to, nor was he given the chance to think through the reasons behind why he couldn’t hear anything, for a single command echoed through his mind, chasing away all outside thoughts.

**Kill them** … 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO EVERYONE! Oh, I'm so happy to be posting this next chapter! I'm also happy - and kind of sad - to be announcing that this story only has six chapters left... eek! Thank you for all of your support up to this point and I can't wait to finish the rest of this story with you guys!
> 
> As usual - and I'm sure you're probably getting tired of these at this point - please feel free to leave comments, questions, or suggestions and I will happily answer them as soon as I have the chance. Thanks for sticking with me you guys, and keep on smiling please! :)


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